Greatest Filmmaker of all times

The Abyss, as Used Furniture said. Terminator 2, which was another stepping stone in the use of CGI. Titanic didn't change technology, but it was the most expensive film at it's time and it made box office records. An interesting achievement, anyway. Avatar, for several reasons.

Somehow the man always manages to do something amazing, even with films that aren't that great. Every James Cameron release is an event. Not many filmmakers can say that.

However, he's nowhere near the greatest of all time. Technical merit and fun action films hardly make an exemplary filmmaker, especially his lack of originality in story and horrible cliche characters.

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Huh. Well here's to learning.

"Greatest Filmmaker of all times"

This is one of those impossible to choose categories if you ask me. Eisenstein for originality & influence, Hitchcock, Welles, Polanski, Spielberg, the list could go on.

I'll have to think some more about the question LOL!

James Cameron: Michael Bay with talent

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"Puns are the highest form of literature." -Alfred Hitchcock

Stanley Kubrick! He blends so well plot, visual, and music!

I would have to say Stanley Kubrick for director.

As much as I'm a fan of Kubrick's films and think he was excellent, I just can't bring myself to crown him the greatest. His films have aged very well for the most part but there's always a very calculated feel to them that keeps me from enjoying them as much as I have many other films which are less technically exquisite, yet more inspired in an organic way and which have....heart.

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#31 on SC's Top 100 Mofos list!!

I wouldn't say Kubrick is the greatest ever, but he's definitely up there. The only filmmakers I prefer to him are Hitchcock, Scorsese, and MAYBE Coppola. But I think his films are just so damn polarizing that it's not really fair to classify him as THE greatest.

I would say one of the greatest - and often overlooked - is Julie Taymor.

I think James Cameron and Steven Spielberg is greatest film maker of all times.They both have given there best creation.There movies Jurassic Park Series and Avatar are stating more about them.

Obviously, Hitchcock and Kubrick will always be the two greatest directors ever. I prefer Hitchcock.

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''If the rule you followed brought you to this, of what use was the rule?''

Most inspiring -- John Cassavetes.

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Have you ever held a lion in your arms? I have. He smelled funky.

I think Orsen Welles and Alfred Hitchcock were in a league of their own.

I think Yasujiro Ozu and the French New Wave Directors, Godard, Melville, Malle, were better than Hitchcock, but I'm not too familiar with Wells actually to really say. I need to watch Citizen Kane.

Frank Capra, Elia Kazan, Stanley Kubrick, Akira Kurosawa, John Huston, Billy Wilder, Robert Altman, John Cassavetes, Ingmar Bergman, Paul Mazursky, Vittorio De Sica, , Robert Bresson, Sidney Lumet

Miyazaki for developing animation while most people are just obsessive with live action. Truly a pioneering mind. Even many Sci Fi and fantasy live action is heavily influenced by Miyazaki.

However, if you are talking live action it is Akira Kurosawa. Perhaps the single most influential over modern movies. Although there are important ones very early like Fritz Lang, whose influence is enormous as well. Welles is important for developing breakthroughs in Hollywood direction and tropes but overall his influence is greater over mid 20th century stuff than contemporary if compared to Kurosawa. Hitchcock is tremendously important in developing psychological thrillers and horror but his influence is not as wide as Lang or Kurosawa. Ozu is very influential as well, his directimg style heavily influemced not only film but comics as well.

Also, Kurosawa is the biggest influence on Miyazaki. Kurosawa is also the most often mentioned name when someone talks about a "great" director.

And the greatest artistic live action director is Tarkovsky.

So, overall the single most influential director might be Lang or Kurosawa. Though it's very hard to say, there are many other very i,portanto I didn't mention. I guess one should think too hard about BS like this and just enjoy movies.

Although in animation the greatest is Miyazaki, without any question. Thing is animation is mostly concentrated in a single country and Miyazaki is the king there. Live action is spread out through the world so it's hard to say. Usually people just list their current personal favorites.

I placed my bet on Kurosawa becuase he is without a doubt the most influential Japanese director. Since the most influential countries are France Japan and US, and only in Japan we have a unquestioned king I guess he tales the crown.

Personally I don't think Miyazaki is as good as Maasaki Yuasa, Satoshi Kon, or Mamoru Oshii. Oshii's Angel's Egg trumps anything Miyazaki has done in terms of artistic mastery, and Ghost in the Shell trumps anything Miyazaki has done in terms of mainstream animation. Miyazaki has made the best family and children's animation, but I don't think he's the greatest in terms of his directing. He has probably made a larger impact on the media of animation that any other single individual has had, but I find that people who make the most impact overall are not the peak of human potential in terms of skill, creativity, and pure genius. The truly greatest artists are usually not appreciated by people who do not have a deep understanding of the art, and those people are not very common because it takes years of hard work to reach that level of understanding and appreciation. I feel like I'm starting to get there, but I am not yet at the point where I can really go into a lot of depth explaining why one artistic masterpiece is so much better than another great masterpiece.

I also don't think Kurasawa is at the same level as Ozu. Kurasawa's movies are more accessible, but they are not as potent or artistic as Ozu.

I do think Tarkovsky is one of the greatest directors of all time. Maybe Fritz Lang. Definitely Ingmar Bergman, and on that note I should also mention Carl Theodore Dreyer.

Bwahahahaha....

sorry....

Wahaahahaahahahahaha....

cough


cough


ahem...

sorry....

Man you've been digging up a lot of threads. It seems unusual that you find Welles and Hitchcock to be in a league of their own yet you don't have either in your top 10. Hitchcock and Welles are great, but I think they both fit into JP Coursodon's analysis of Hitchcock that he is "less interested in his themes proper than in the practical business of putting them across in cinematic terms." (Excerpt found in this very good essay). Hitchcock and Welles' films are both nearly entirely absent of the documentary that other American greats bring to their films. I value both dearly, but their art, being of a very technical nature and right in front of your face, seems to often be taken as the greatest more because of the ease with which one can view and analyze it, rather than the depths of their complexity. Then again, this is something of a reduction.

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Mubi

Bluedeed, I'd be curious to see your top ten fave directors.